Anywhere but Home
by Kingdom Liz
Summary: Two families connected by a horrible curse... What will happen when the Sohmas and the Aidas come together in an effort to make sense of it all?  Will they be able to put the curse to rest once and for all... or die trying? R&R :3
1. Prologue

**Anywhere but Home**

**YAY THIS IS A NEW FANFICTION THAT MY BEST FRIEND AND I ARE WRITING. So here's how it goes, we're switching off every other chapter, so the odds are mine, and the evens are hers. Also, the point of view changes along with it because I'm Lexi and she is Tara. We worked super hard on this plotline thing and are pretty excited to really get into it, so I hope that you will kindly review this if you happen to read it (good or bad, I don't care… just REVIEW!) xD Anyways, I don't own Fruits Basket or any of the characters that I didn't make up. **

**Enjoy! **

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**Introduction. The Truth.**

Hello, my name is Tara Aida. I am a seventeen-year-old girl, and although I appear normal, I'm anything but that. Growing up, I was never popular, I never talked much. Keeping my distance became a normal routine after awhile, it's what my parents always taught me.

They tried the best they could to hide me from the world, once they found out they passed it onto me. Although they tried, they knew that they wouldn't be their forever to shelter me. They obtained the core of it; after-all…their generation started it. As much as they worried for me, I think it was just their selfish way of trying to appear as normal as they could. My mother loved me…but I missed my father. He barely ever visited me, in fear his powers would do something horrible, it seems he had already found a new life. My stepfather hated me, shunned me, and wanted my little sister to not even know me. What father didn't know was, I'd always be the Star to his Moon.

After they passed away, our family had basically been wiped out, except for us. My third cousin, Lexi, was always by my side. Although we weren't blood related, we grew to be like sisters. Her parents had passed, too, so we understood each other. Plus, she was a part of the curse as well. Out of us all, she had the strongest Aura and the most positive vibe, she always was able to lift our spirits and make us feel better. She was Strength, after all.

Her younger sister, Kanna, always looks up to her. She is a very good girl and barely ever does anything someone would consider 'wrong.' She has good morals and values, sometimes to the point where I'm afraid people might walk all over her. She is only two years younger than us, which makes her the same age as my sister. She is Temperance.

Lulu-chan is my younger stepsister, younger than I am by two years. She is the Empress, and the one who always lets me confide in her when I feel down. I am glad she never judged me from the past, and although she is young, she is the mother I never had.

Lastly, I'm the Star. The star is supposed to give hope, inspiration, and guidance. I always wondered if I lived up to my name like the others do. It seems even though I'm supposed to do the guiding, I can't find out where to lead the others.

There are many others out there that we haven't met yet. We all have one thing in common, though: We don't belong, we're all cursed: whether it's because of blood or relationships, we were chosen to be the ones. We dropped out of school and are now traveling around, hoping that one day, we'll eventually find somewhere we can call home.

The Curse. Our Burden.

Universe, Judgement, Sun, Moon, Star, Temperance, Death, Justice, Hermit, Strength, Emperor, Empress, Priestess, Magician, Fool.

This is us. We know our names, because they are forever marked on us.

The world of Tarot is much like the world of the paranormal; it can never be fully explained or broken down. 21 cards, the main cards, each represent special traits, powers, and techniques meant to describe a person's present or future being. Some mistake it as witchcraft, but what it really is, you can call a "guidance, or path to reveal yourself." The Sun, Moon, and Universe are our gods, the rest of us are their follower, we were born to follow their lead and use our powers to their commands. It's not that we want to, instead that some weird force lures us to them. The Moon was the one who started it all…I can vaguely remember, on that day….

My father was telling me the story, he said that she wouldn't have much more time with me and thought I should know the truth. _"Tara, the reason we are like this is because we meddled to far into the other worlds beyond our reach…"_ We were born like this, because my father and Ren Sohma, they were the ones who were finally able to summon the spirits of the gods. They summoned them with the cards, but what they didn't know, is that having those powers would cost them, they'd have to pay a price… They'd never fit in again…and even worse…Whenever they're feelings went contrary to what they represented, they're personalities would be reversed to an extreme until someone could make them feel better. They sold themselves to the gods of tarot and the zodiac, they traded their freedom for power. The Moon, with its cunning and illusions, tricked them into bearing the curse. They're true powers and feelings would show when they were excited or angered, which led to cast them as different and outsiders. Ren was rumored to eventually go crazy, after my father passed away.

They held the core. Ren was the Universe, my father held the worst – the curse of the Moon. He was destined to die by that, but not Ren. It was Ren's child that was destined to die, because they would be the core of the other curse. The only person I can look to now, is Akito…the leader of the other curse, Ren Sohma's child. We have to find him…we need to find him so that we can get the answers on how to break it, but so far, our traveling has remained futile. We're each so different, yet we search for the same thing, peace, reason, and a home.

"_Find him, find Akito, Tara. He is the one who can help you; he is your other side, the other curse."_

Tara did an amazing job with the prologue, no:D REVIEW AND I'LL POST THE FIRST CHAPTER!!! Let's set a goal. … I will update if I get… three reviews. Yes, that is appropriate. I think you can handle that. Go go!! waits


	2. Anywhere but Home

Many thanks to _**sheep-san is here to stay**_ for reviewing!!

OK so I got bored of waiting for people to review and decided to post the first chapter in hopes that maybe a few more people would read/review. You will, right? Ok so this chapter is from Lexi's POV (aka I wrote it. Lexi is me) and as I said before it will be alternating perspectives and authors every other chapter so I hope you like it!! Chapter two is typed and as soon as I get a few more reviews I will be posting it! As always, I disclaim all of the Fruits Basket characters and the original plotline. :3 Enjoy!!!

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Anywhere but Home

One

"The gods have placed a curse upon our family. A terrible curse involving the mysterious magic held within the fortune-telling cards called Tarot. We've always wanted you to be able to live out a long, happy life; there is no such life to be had as long as you remain here."

I looked up at my mom with fearful eyes. I didn't know what was happening, but I could tell from the pained look on her face that my mother was about to tell me something that I didn't want to hear… but had to.

"I want you to pack up money and a few belongings. Take your sister, then, and go to Tara and Lulu. The four of you must depart as soon as you can. There is someone who holds the answer to the question you've been brooding over."

I reached out to wipe away a tear that had made its way to my mother's chin. She held me close to her and sobbed silently.

"Lexi… I'm so sorry. I never wanted it to be this way, but you and Kanna must go now. Just… follow your heart and let the Star be your guide."

"Mommy?" she broke her hold on me to look into my watery eyes, filled to the brim with confusion and searching for answers that seemed out of reach.

"Will I ever see you again?"

She touched my cheek softly. "If there is ever a way, you can be sure that I will find it."

I smiled sadly and nodded, taking these words in and digesting them fully. To me, this had become a sort of promise… that someday, somehow I would see her again. My heart told me that I would not, but this tiny flicker of hope is the only thing that prevented me from breaking down right then and there.

My mother surely had known this – she'd always had a way with words, after all.

Like the good little girl that I'd always strived to be, I ran upstairs to my room and shoved my favorite stuffed cat toy into a small sack along with some snacks, a little bit of money, and a few articles of clothing.

It was up to me to be the strong one; to carry the burden for my sister and stop at nothing to keep her spirits up. Kanna didn't need to know that we were never going to come back, and so I didn't tell her.

"Kanna, we're going on an adventure!! Come on, hurry up! Get together all of your favorite things and let's go! Tara and Lulu are coming too!" I grinned at her, setting aside all of my emotions so she wouldn't be able to decipher the truth of what was really happening.

Kanna did as she was told and seemed pretty excited about the idea, putting a bunch of toys and her favorite clothes into a bag like I had done.

I slapped myself in the forehead. I'd almost forgotten!! Dashing back into my bedroom, I threw the pillow off of my bed to reveal a picture of my parents from their wedding. I never wanted to forget all of the sacrifices they'd made for me or how happy I was to be their daughter. I blinked away the tears that threatened to give everything away for Kanna, and slid the photo into my sack.

Before we left, I kissed my mother goodbye, and she whispered into my ear, smoothing my hair back lovingly and turning to do the same to Kanna.

She stood on the doorstep and waved to us until we were out of sight; I glanced back every now and then to see her. Kanna, beside me, was busy chatting away happily about all the fun things we could do while we were adventuring, but I wasn't listening attentively. In my mind, I was replaying my mother's words over and over again in my head.

"_Go anywhere but home."_

It's been seven years since she told me that.

I know it's short, but chapter three (my next chapter) will be longer. And I thought adding to this one would just make it more distracting and it was unnecessary so please R&R!!! Questions/comments/suggestions/complaints are all appreciated!!


	3. Finding the Pieces

OK so basically I'm going into a state of depression because nobody is reviewing my story!!!! ;-; WHY?? I'm going to cry. But anyways, this is chapter two as told by the one and only TARA AIDA YAAAAY!!!!!! She did a great job as always so PLEASE review!!! Wheeee I'm done now. Oh yeah! I don't own ANYTHING except for Kyo… erm…. in my mind.

.. ahaha

GO GO GO READ AND REVIEW KTHX LUV YA BYII. :D

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Finding the Pieces

Two

I was ready to leave that place.

When they arrived at the door to my home, I must admit – I was happy, happy that I could do what I was finally born to do, what my father told me years ago before he left me. I was happy I could be with the only people that truly accepted me, understood me. In my house, none of that existed. Nobody spoke of the curse, even though in my mother and stepfathers eyes, they screamed for me to leave. I was happy to leave, and let them live their perfect lives alone. As long as I got to take Lulu with me; and Lexi was at my side, I knew we could do anything.

_"Remember Tara, I'll always love you. Stay by the people who accept you for who you really are; they're the key to what you need to find. Guide them, my shining Star. Go find them, and fix the mistakes of your ancestors."_

I remembered my father's last words to me as I slammed the sliding door shut, tightly gripping my sister's hand. Without saying goodbye, I was leaving to find freedom. Even though I've been shunned for being the daughter of the curse, I knew in my heart this whole thing was meant to be. And as the four of us trailed through the muddy lands, the sprinkling rain pattering against us; I felt my father guiding me in the right direction, each and every moment in the day.

We'd travel all day sometimes, barely ever stopping. Even though our bodies ached our hearts were filled. Lexi's determination kept me striving to lead the pack, and my little sister's soft-spoken words always got me through the nights. Although Kanna didn't speak much, you could tell she trusted in us, and we moved on.

Eventually, winter came in at full pace, and the cold was getting harsher by the day. Kanna fell ill, and we didn't have enough money to get her medicine for her fever. It just kept getting worse by the minute, so we had no choice but to do whatever we could to save her. We'd go door to door asking for help. That's when we met Obaa-chan.

"_Excuse me miss, could you please help us? My sister is very sick, and we need some money for medicine, just a little would help." Lexi pleaded, Kanna in her arms, wrapped in a blanket._

"_Oh you poor dears, where are your parents? Come in the house quickly to get warm. I'll make you some tea and we'll get her medicine right away."_

We told her our story, how our parents could no longer take care of us, so we had to try and fend for ourselves. She was very understanding and loving, to the point where she ended up taking care of us. We grew close to her, until she was like a grandmother to us. Seven years passed by quickly back then, almost too quickly. One summer night, she passed peacefully in her sleep. We all said our goodbyes to her, tears in our eyes, and left her. We were on our own once more.

Lexi and I worked of course – while she did housework for people door to door, I sold hand-made tarot cards. It was funny, but it was the thing I grew up with and what I knew best, and you'd be surprised at how many kids, and even adults, found them fascinating. I found them disgusting and amazing at the same time. They held a bittersweet place in my heart, and imagined they always would. With the money we scraped up, we were just able to get food and stay in motels time to time. That all changed one day when a stranger was able to find out our dark secret.

"Lulu, where did she go? I swear that child is always missing…" I roamed the almost empty streets at the pink aura of dusk, searching for any sign of my little sister and her bright red bow. Lexi and Kanna were out buying food, and I was selling some more of my trinkets, but I guess I wasn't watching closely enough.  
My heart began to pound as I realized she was nowhere in sight. She was 14, but still a bit immature for her age. She could have even walked away with a stranger.

"Not now, come on…calm down. I can't do this in public…" I murmured, taking deep breaths and trying not to get worked up enough to cause anything. I didn't want to reverse at a time where I needed to focus. My eyes kept scanning the streets, until a glimpse of crimson caught my eye. There, in the middle of the street, was Lulu. She seemed to be looking at something.

I began running towards her without thought. "Lulu, get out of the street, you might get hit!" Her head tilted slightly my way, a look of hopelessness on her face.

"Sis…I found an animal, it looks hurt!" She held up a small gray mouse, cradling it in her arms.

"That's fine Lulu, but please get off the street!" I cried, beginning to hold my arms out to her as I got closer. For some reason, she wouldn't move. Maybe…it was fate? All I knew is that I could sense something coming. My gift, it was telling me to do what I was doing.

The flashing of headlights pulsed through the pink haze behind her and my eyes widened. Horror was taking over me, time passed by in what was an eternity, I screamed, and everything went dark right before my eyes. I woke up in a daze.

"…What?" My head hurt so much, I could barely make out the dark shapes around me, talking back and forth. As things got clearer; I slowly began to understand what had happened.

"You're telling me that the car flew into the air right before it hit the girl, and smashed into the wall?" The policeman asked the frightened witness.

"Yes I swear, and this girl- her eyes were glowing, like she had control of it!"

My sister grabbed my hand. "I'm sorry, Tara…I didn't mean to cause so much trouble…"

I stood to my feet and smiled at her. "Everything will be ok…hopefully nobody is hurt…" On the inside, I was more scared than ever. What if they all would find out? We would be considered freaks- nobody would even look at us anymore.

A hand pressed lightly against my shoulder. "We came as soon as we heard what happened. Are you two okay?" A concerned Lexi checked us up and down for signs of injury.

"I think that's the least of our problems…Lexi." I muttered to her casually, pointing to the witness talking with the police. "They're onto us…and it's my fault."

"No, it's mine." Lulu corrected, tears welling in her brown eyes. I wiped them from her face. "We'll find a way out of this, I promise…"

"Someone's watching us."

"Huh?!" The three of us looked back at Kanna, shocked at her remark. She pointed to the bushes.

"What…is that?" Lexi hesitated in between words. The leaves jumbled slightly, and soon revealed a boy, leaning over the hedge.

"I saw it…" He whispered. "Follow me, I can help!"

We looked at each other, doubtingly. But, it was our only shot, our only chance to escape.

"We have to." Lexi nodded. "You agree, Tara?"

"Of course, something tells me this isn't a coincidence." I grabbed Lulu's arm and we jolted down the street, following the strange boy through the path he took us in the back alley. He was all we could trust in at this moment in time. We couldn't look back, in fear we'd see them chasing after us. _'Someone who will help us, even though they saw…Someone who accepts us for who we are.'_ I thought to myself, as we continued to run.

"Hurry, get inside quickly!" The boy shouted, running ahead of us and opening the door to a house. We quickly clustered ourselves into the vacancy, panting and out of breath.

"Thank…you…" I huffed, leaning against the wall. "But…who are you?"

The boy smiled. "My name is Akemi. I brought you here, because my sister wanted me to."  
"Huh?" Lexi exchanged awkward glances with me, and then looked back.

"I know it sounds strange, but trust me. My sister is like you are. When she saw what you did…she knew. She knew you were one of them, so she sent me out to get you, and hide you."

There was a moment of nothingness.

"She's a…tarot?"

"Yes, I am." A soft voice pierced the silence, and the figure of a girl a little older than our age appeared from the corner. "I could sense your presence. It's weird how that works for us cursed ones, isn't it?" She smiled softly, titling her head.

A feeling of relief came over my head, and tears almost formed into my eyes. I knew my father was watching over us, or this wouldn't have happened.

"My name is Amaya. Forgive me for the sudden situation, but it was the only way we could help without getting anyone else involved."

"That's fine…" Lexi laughed. "I'm still just in shock. I'm really glad we found another member of the Tarot. I'm Lexi; this is my best friend Tara, and our younger sisters, Lulu and Kanna. If you don't mind me asking…which card are you…?"

"Oh, yeah" She giggled, lifting her sleeve slightly. Then it appeared, the word 'Judgment' written in fancy letters on her shoulder.

"So you're judgment. My father told me a lot about that card. He said I'd find you one day." I replied, smirking. "I guess he was right."

"Yes, and I see…You're the Star. And with you, Strength, The Empress, and Temperance." She answered, pointing us each out in surprise.

"How could you tell all of that?!" Lulu jumped in shock.

"Well, let's just say that I have a knack for things like that." Amaya giggled. "I'm good at reading into different personalities. So…you guys will be staying with us tonight. I'm going to go fix up the guestrooms, and then we'll have some dinner. It's better if we stay inside until morning, just to let things settle down. After that, it will probably be okay to go out again since nobody was hurt in the incident, amazingly."

"Yeah…about that…"

"Don't worry about it." She interrupted me. "It happens to us all, it's not like you could help it."

I smiled and nodded back at her as she walked up the stairs. _'I wonder…If she's one of us…how does she have…a home to stay?'_

Later in the evening, we all finally settled down at dinner.

"Wow, you didn't have to cook us this huge feast." Lexi gasped with wide eyes, staring at the food placed before us.

"Oh no really, it's no problem at all." She replied happily. "I've been living alone for awhile now; I never have to pay for anyone, so it's nice to have company to tend to for once." 

"…So, do you know anything about the curse we bear?" Kanna asked, glancing at her from across the table. Amaya started at her with the strangest look of emptiness for a moment.

"No, we don't." Amaya replied. "We've been trying to find all the others through these years, but you four are the only ones we've been able to come across. It's hard because we have to find them, and hide ourselves from the world at the same time."

"You can say that again." Lulu laughed. "What a reunion. I wonder what we will do tomorrow."

"Well, don't you go to school?" Akemi asked. "Tomorrow is a school day at Kaibara High."

"…School?" I thought out loud. "I had totally forgotten about that. We haven't been to school since our Obaa-chan died…"

"Not only that." Lexi interrupted. "This is Kanna and Lulu's first year in high school, and we'll have to transfer into a completely different one now that we're here."

"I could let you guys borrow some old uniforms I have stacked away I guess…" Amaya replied. "But I think I only have two, so you might have to get a couple more for our new ones here. I can help with that, of course."

"Wow, really?" I gasped. "Thanks so much…I'm pretty sure we can get some for Lulu and Kanna. This is really kind of you." I smiled.

"Oh, but before you go thinking about that…" Akemi started.

"Huh?" Lulu looked over. "What is it?"

"Well, you guys will have to take an entrance exam!" He smiled. "But that shouldn't…uh…are you ok?"

Kanna and I leaned over the table. "Entrance exam?! Oh no…I don't know anything! How will we do this?" I cried.

Kanna covered her face in her arms. "I'm scared…"

"Oh come on you crybabies, we can do this!" Lexi smiled, pulling us all into a group hug. "We've always made it through everything shoved at us, plus, it's not like we're stupid or anything. It'll be easy."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess when you put it that way…As long as you are there, I'm sure we'll be okay." I giggled, my fear slowly subsiding from her confidence.

After dinner, Amaya showed us to our room, and we changed into our night clothes.

"Have a good night, you guys. I'm glad I could find you. Maybe things will start making sense in no time, right?"

Lexi nodded. "Night Amaya, and thank you so much for this."

"No problem, it's what family is for, huh? I'd never leave my little cousins out, no matter what." She closed the door quietly, silence covering the room.

As I lay in bed, I couldn't forget all of the things that happened today. So many pieces of the puzzle were getting closer to being solved now. Now that we knew there were for certain more people like us, we just needed to find them…and then find our purpose. The purpose we are here, so we can finally be free from this curse and the Sohmas as well, whoever or whatever they are…

"The…Sohmas…"

"Hm?" Lexi looked over at me from the other bed. "Did you say something, Tara?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking out loud." I giggled. "But that does remind me of something I wanted to ask…Lulu, are you still awake?"

My sister turned over to my side, rolling closer to me. "Yes, what is it sis?" Her brown eyes were bigger than ever.

"Well…I was wondering. What ever happened to that…mouse you had? Was it ok?"

"Oh yeah…the mouse. It was the strangest thing…"

"You found a mouse, Lulu?" Lexi joined in, sitting up in the bed as Kanna followed suit in curiosity.

"Well yeah. But you see…It felt like it was trying to say something to me…like thank you, or something. The way it was looking at me…It was like, it was a person. And then, it just scampered off, completely normal-like. Maybe I'm just crazy."

Lexi and I burst out laughing at her story, burying our heads into the pillows.

"Lulu, that was awesome, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard before." I cried.

Lexi giggled. "It was kinda cute though, you have to admit!"

"I believe you…Lulu." Kanna smiled. We went quiet.

"Do you think…she was serious?" I lipped back to my friend.

"Who knows, this day was strange enough for me to believe anything." Lexi joked, turning the light back off.

"_Nah, it couldn't be…"_

I went back to my thinking, back to the puzzle.

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;; . PLEASE REVIEW EVEN IF YOU HATE IT.


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